Goth in Command
by OmnipresentNuance
Summary: With her parents and older siblings gone for the next couple of hours, Lucy is left temporarily in charge of the house and her younger sisters. At first, she's not too confident about the arrangement, but she'll soon have to prove herself as various problems arise with her sisters throughout the day.


_**Well, how do you do, my viewing acquaintances? Ready for another written form of mine? I'd say so on my end, so let's get to it!**_

_**Okay, change of plans, folks. After some consideration, I decided to expedite my first truly original Loud House story to right now instead of later on. I think you all deserve it after sitting through four stories based on previously established episodes of the series. Plus, you get to see what I can do without using the events of such episodes to build upon.**_

_**This one's really unique in that it centers around all five of the younger sisters, particularly Lucy as you've figured out already. It's also unique because as I've explained in my profile, I generally prefer writing stuff focusing more on any combination of the older sisters and Lincoln, since they're my favorites and all. But that doesn't mean I'm not willing to branch out and do something different, too, such as what we have here today. Also, I just thought the idea of Lucy being in charge of things for a little while and whether she's capable of handling such a task made for a very fun concept.**_

_**With that, let's get going!**_

_**The Loud House is the exclusive property of Nickelodeon and Viacom. The usage of the setting, characters and such is based on nothing more than a pure affinity for everything and is not being used for monetary purposes.**_

* * *

Today was an unusual day over at the Loud house. This would actually be a fairly common descriptor for most such days, as an abode housing 13 family members within its walls could hardly have what might be charitably considered a "normal" day, but today was a particularly special case.

Right now, the heads of the household, Lynn Sr. and Rita, were in their bedroom making last minute preparations for the hectic next few hours that were ahead of them.

"All right, remind me again who goes where once more?" Lynn Sr. asked.

Rita reached over for a sticky note that had everything written down, "Okay, Lori and Leni want to go to the mall, Luan has a birthday party she's performing at with Lincoln as her assistant and Lynn has softball practice where she's bringing Luna along for 'music motivational purposes', whatever that's supposed to mean."

Lynn Sr. nodded, "So there's all that, plus our own engagements, then we have to pick everybody up and head back home all within three hours. Just another average day in our family's lives, huh?"

"Yeah, but we'll handle it. We always do in the end." Rita said confidently.

"Always love that positive outlook, honey." Lynn Sr. added with a smile, but then had a look of worry quickly take over, "Though I must admit, I'm not as confident about if this arrangement we've set up with Lucy will go so well. She also doesn't seem too confident about it, either."

"Oh, I think you're worrying too much. If you ask me, I'd say Lucy is more than ready to take on such a big responsibility." Rita said.

The responsibility in question was that because since her parents and six older siblings will all be gone for a while, Lucy was going to be put in the position of being temporarily in charge of things back home with her remaining younger sisters. It was going to be an extraordinary task for an 8-year-old to handle and at first, it wasn't something neither she nor her parents thought could work out. But since it was only going to be three hours, it was hoped that perhaps things would pan out pretty well. Besides, if an 8-year-old girl can handle doing funeral processions and poetry readings outside of the house for hours at a time, what's just three hours of being at home while keeping tabs on her younger sisters?

Ready for the day ahead, Lynn Sr. and Rita exited their room, where they saw their five youngest children huddled around the couch watching TV and as that was happening, Luna and Lynn Jr. were standing near the front door chatting about their own endeavor for the day, the former with her guitar strapped along her back and the latter in her softball uniform carrying her bat and glove.

"So, give me the lowdown again as to what I'm doing tagging along with you for this, LJ." Luna requested.

"It's pretty simple, really." Lynn began responding, "So you can play your jams during certain points at our practice as a form of motivation. Gotta try mixing things up here and there in order to get my team's blood pumping."

Though her sister's reasoning was still pretty vague, Luna shrugged in acceptance, "Whatever you say, brah."

Next, Luan emerged from dining room, clad in her clown attire she picked out for the party she was performing at, while Lincoln followed from behind, straining from carrying a box full of props and other such supplies.

"Luan, do we really need to bring this much stuff with us?" He asked, putting the box down for a moment to catch his breath.

"For this occasion, I don't think it wouldn't hurt." She replied, "Our client wasn't exactly specific about what she wanted us to do at her kid's party, so like the Boy Scouts, we gotta be prepared for anything. But don't worry, I wear my willingness to do whatever it takes to put smiles on kids' faces like a _badge _of honor!"

A groan was shared among those who were within earshot of that fairly basic pun.

Finally, Lori was making her way downstairs and paused midway through as she took a moment in waiting for Leni to come along. However, her sister appeared to be taking longer than she really should in coming on out of their room.

"Leni, come on, let's get going!" Lori shouted to her.

A few seconds came along without any response, only for a shrill scream belonging to Leni suddenly echoed through the house. It caused some concern among everyone on the ground floor, but Lori was more annoyed than anything.

"What is it, Leni?" She asked.

"Lori, I can't find my purse!" Leni said in panic as she poked her head out, "I've looked all over our room and it's nowhere to be found! I think I've lost it!"

With a roll of her eyes, Lori trudged back up the stairs to try and see what she could do to help out. But once she got up to Leni, she groaned upon noticing that her sister's purse was simply already slung over her shoulder and apparently had no clue of it.

"Does this literally look familiar to you?" Lori asked her, holding Leni's purse right up to her face and gesturing that it was over her shoulder.

Leni gasped in delight, "Lori, you found it! How did you do that so quickly?!"

Lori sighed and rubbed her temple, "Leni, you likely had it with you the whole time! I...ugh, you know what, never mind. Let's just go, already."

Her sister's ditz induced caper quickly resolved, Lori headed back downstairs with Leni happily in tow, joining the rest of those who were heading out for the day.

"All right, so everyone's ready?" Rita asked her six eldest kids.

A combo of "sure", "yeah" and a "you betcha" were shared among them.

"Right then, gang. How about you head on over to Vanzilla and we'll meet you there in a minute?" Lynn Sr. suggested.

The six of them would do just that, and while that was occurring, the parents signaled Lucy to come over to them, which she obliged.

"Hey, Lucy, we want to thank you again for sticking by with your younger sisters for the time being." Lynn Sr. said, "You think you'll be able to handle things while we're gone?"

"Um...sure?" Lucy answered, not exactly sounding so confident on her part.

"Oh, don't sound so doubtful of yourself, sweetie." Rita assured her, "I'd say you'll do just fine, but if anything does happen, don't hesitate in calling us, okay?"

Lucy nodded slightly, "Got it."

Lynn Sr. and Rita smiled at their goth daughter before they turned and headed out the front door to take on the day that laid ahead of them.

As that happened, Lucy turned over and was going to address her sisters on the couch.

"So, uh...what do you guys want to do?" She asked them.

"Well, I don't know about you all, but I gotta take part in some practice primping, so if you'll excuse me..." Lola said as she took her leave to go upstairs to her and Lana's room.

"I'm going out to the front yard, 'cause there's a perfectly good puddle of mud that's just begging to be played with!" Lana stated enthusiastically before bounding out the front door.

"And as far as I'm concerned, I've got some very important research to conduct myself. However, because of the risky nature of such, I've opted to use the backyard as my workspace, which I've already taken the liberty of having things set up there." Lisa said, taking her leave as well.

With three of her sisters appearing to have their own plans for now, Lucy sat back down on the couch and let herself relax.

"I suppose that takes care of that, I guess." She said to herself.

However, she took a mental note as she noticed that it only took care of three out of her four younger sisters. To underscore that, she heard a babbling noise just in front of her. She looked down to see the baby of the family, Lily, toddling on over and reaching out to her sister.

"Hey, Lily, want to come up here with me?" Lucy asked.

Even with her gloomy demeanor, Lucy was like the rest of her siblings in having a soft spot for Lily. With that in mind, the goth girl reached down and helped her baby sister on up. Once she was brought onto the couch, Lily immediately snuggled up to Lucy.

"Oocee!" Lily babbled happily.

Lucy couldn't help but creak a smile, "Well, at least someone wants to hang around with me right now."

For the next little while, the two of them were content in sitting together enjoying each other's presence.

But as was the case for many an instance in this household, all good things soon had to come to an end, as Lucy heard a familiar, yet grotesque noise accompanied by a nasty odor.

She looked to her baby sister and sure enough, Lily's diaper had become amassed with one of her...surprises.

"Sigh. Of course." Lucy said slightly disgruntled.

Knowing there was no one else to defer such responsibility, Lucy had no choice but to handle this herself. However, the problem was that she had no experience in changing Lily's diaper all on her own. Sure, she had witnessed her parents and older siblings do it before, but seeing it done and actually doing it all by her lonesome were two separate things. But again, no other options were presenting themselves at this moment, so she knew what had to be done.

"Groan." She verbalized.

Lucy moved off the couch and turned over to reach out and begin carrying Lily, keeping her at an arms length. She ascending the stairs, rounded over to Lisa and Lily's bedroom and placed her baby sister on the changing table. Before going any further, Lucy brought over a step stool so she could get a better vantage point.

Stepping onto the stool, Lucy looked down at Lily, who was smiling and appearing to not have a care in the world. Rolling up her shirt sleeves, Lucy very slowly and apprehensively reached out until her fingers gripped the diaper and undid it.

What came from that next would, to say the least, abhor the goth girl.

"Blech!" She said, reeling back slightly and coming close to gagging.

Considering that she was one who handled cadavers, read books and wrote poetry with very grim subject matter and mingled with bats without fear of bites, such a reaction was saying something.

Taking a moment to gather herself, Lucy didn't take any chances in pulling away the dirty diaper, bundling it up and disposing of it in the diaper pail. She thought the worst was over, until she realized next she had to wipe down Lily.

"Ugh..." Lucy grumbled.

She saw the box of wipes nearby and pulled out three, using them at the same to wipe Lily down until all offending matter was done away with. Upon finishing, she tossed the wipes into the diaper pail, unsure if that's actually where they belonged, but for now she didn't care as long as she could get this over with.

The next step was for Lucy to fit Lily with a clean diaper. She was about to do that, but couldn't help but notice the look on her baby sister's face. It's like she sensed Lucy's overall hesitance and disgust in having to go through all this, and for that, a pang of guilt hit her.

"It's not your fault, Lily." Lucy assured her, "I'm just not used to doing this by myself, that's all."

Continuing where she left off, Lucy retrieved a fresh diaper, put around Lily and sealed it up. She pulled her youngest sister up onto a sitting position, where upon she smiled and clapped her hands. Smiling back, Lucy gently poked Lily on the nose, eliciting joyful giggling from the latter.

Following the giggling, Lily's eyes began to droop, suggesting she was ready for a nap. In response, Lucy picked her up, stepped off the stool, moved it over to the side with her foot, stepped back on and carried her over to her crib to be placed down.

As Lily was nodding off, Lucy had another little smile creep up. In spite of her initial revulsion, changing her baby sister's diaper gave her a serious boost of confidence with regards to how she'd handle being in charge for the duration. Perhaps this won't be such a challenge after all.

Finally, Lily flopped back onto the pillow in her crib and began snoring softly, and with that, Lucy silently stepped away to leave her be.

The next step for Lucy right now was that she headed for the bathroom and rinsed her hands thoroughly, and after that, she pulled her shirt sleeves back down again.

Once that was done, she opted going to her room for the time being, as she did have some reading to catch up on. As she settled down, Lucy could hear what sounded like Lana scampering back inside the house, up the stairs, into her room and then back out again. Though a tiny bit curious, Lucy paid no mind to it for now.

Another sound that she did hear a short time later, though, did raise a little concern. In the room right next door, Lucy could hear Lola sound like she was grunting, struggling and generally getting frustrated. The goth girl looked over at her bust of Edwin.

"Guess I better check out what's going, right?" She wondered.

The grumbling coming from the pageant princess was hardly getting any better, so Lucy hopped off her bed and made her way to the bedroom next door. The door had been partly left open likely as a result of Lana's earlier arrival and Lucy peered through. She could see Lola sitting in front of her vanity struggling with brushing her hair most likely as a result of a pesky tangle...or two...or several of them.

"Uh, everything okay, Lola?" Lucy asked.

Lola growled softly, "Does it look like I'm okay?!"

She tugged hard with her brush, causing her to yelp and fall over onto the floor.

"Stupid tangles!" Lola shouted, but then whimpered shortly after.

Stepping inside fully, Lucy approached her fallen sister and helped pull her back up to her feet.

"Mind if I lend a hand with those tangles?" Lucy offered up.

Lola looked at Lucy with a surprised look on her face, "Uh...well, that's nice of you, but what would you know about undoing tangles?"

"Maybe not a whole lot, but that doesn't mean I can't at least try." Lucy responded.

Guiding her younger sister over to her bed, Lucy instructed Lola to sit on the edge while she went behind and got on her knees. She took the brush out of Lola's hair, since it had been caught there after Lola fell off, and slowly went to work.

In the time that passed, Lola was amazed at the meticulous nature in which Lucy brushed her hair. There was a little painful tug and a couple of manual undoings of individual hair strands by hand here and there, but for the most part, Lucy appeared to display a knowledge and skill of hair brushing she either didn't know about before or did know, but never let on.

"There, that should do it, Lola." Lucy said upon finishing.

Hearing that, Lola hopped off her bed and went back over to her vanity to check things over from multiple angles.

"So, how'd I do?" Lucy asked.

If the delighted gasp, big shimmering eyes, joyous smile and rush to give her older sister a grateful hug were anything to go by, safe to say Lola gave her proverbial seal of approval.

"Oh, Luce, you're amazing!" She said very happily, "Thank you, thank you, thank you!"

A little smile of her own materialized on Lucy's face as she returned the hug, "Glad I could help, Lola."

With another task of helping out a sister of hers complete, Lucy adjourned back over to her room again.

"So far, so good, Edwin." She addressed her vampiric bust, "This isn't as bad as I thought. Maybe I can handle things..."

Lucy attempted to resume reading, but she was now feeling a bit parched. She left her room once more, went downstairs and arrived at the kitchen whereupon she grabbed herself a glass of water. Her thirst having been quenched, she was about to head on up the stairs again, but paused to hear some faint speech.

"Where did you go?"

Realizing that voice was out front, Lucy looked out the window to see Lana looking around the front yard in a panicked frenzy.

Curious as to what's sending the more rambunctious of the twins in such a state, Lucy headed out the front door and approached Lana from behind, tapping her shoulder.

"Hey, Lana?" She asked.

Like any of her other siblings whenever the spookiest of them arrived unexpectedly, Lana shouted in fear, but soon relaxed afterwards.

"Oh...it's just you, Lucy." Lana said following a sigh, "Can you not do that? I've got enough troubles already!"

"That's actually why I'm out here, because I heard and saw you panicking. What's going on?" Lucy wondered.

Lana whimpered, "I can't find Bitey! I brought him out to play with, but I take my eye off of him for one second and now he's gone!"

"Is that why you came back inside earlier? So you can get him?" Lucy asked.

"Uh-huh..." Lana replied while nodding, "But now I feel like a total dummy for letting him out of my sight. I hope he didn't run away..."

Tears were beginning to form in Lana's eyes when that terrifying possibility came to mind. However, Lucy was not going to allow her sister to feel this way for long.

"Hey, don't worry, Lana. I bet he didn't go to far. Why don't we both look for him together?" She suggested.

A hopeful smiled came across Lana's face, "Can we?"

With a small nod and a smile of her own, Lucy took Lana by the hand and they set off to find Bitey wherever he may be.

"Do you know where you last had him?" Lucy asked.

"He was right beside me over at that mud puddle." Lana replied, pointing over it in question.

"Anywhere else?"

"No, not really..."

As Lana was frightfully trembling over the whereabouts of her beloved rat, Lucy scanned around the front yard while stroking her chin. She took into account a number of possibilities from the garage to the large tree just feet away from her. And then it hit her.

"Wait, how about the crawlspace? Did you check there?" Lucy asked her sister.

Lana's eyes lit up in realization, "Duh, of course! Why didn't I think of that sooner? I remember one time he did slip away there before!"

Now taking the lead in pulling her older sister along with, Lana rushed over to the crawlspace over at the side of the house. She creaked open the little door leading there and shuffled inside with Lucy following behind. As they went further in, both could hear some faint squeaking sounds.

"That's him!" Lana said happily following a gasp.

Shortly after, they also heard some more squeaking, but this time from a different source, one that was also quite familiar.

"Huh, that also sounds like Fangs." Lana noted, "What would he be doing here?"

"He sometimes likes to come down here himself, though usually I try discouraging him from it because he sneaks away from me when doing so." Lucy responded.

By the time they arrived at the deepest crevice of the crawlspace, Lucy and Lana happened upon Bitey and Fangs over a nearby corner. From the looks of things, they were squeaking back and forth, almost as if they were conversing with one another.

"Bitey!" Lana exclaimed.

She crawled over to the rat and scooped him up into her hands, nuzzling him against her cheek. Meanwhile, Lucy approached Fangs and extended her arm out as to encourage him to perch up on it, which he did.

"Hey, Fangs, were you keeping Bitey company?" She asked him.

Fangs squeaked happily, seemingly affirming her question.

"That's nice to hear, but you do know I don't like when you come down here." Lucy said a bit more sternly, "No more, you understand?"

Fangs squeaked a little more sadly, then he moved closer to Lucy and he nuzzled her cheek.

"Sigh. Yes, you are forgiven." She said, smiling slightly, "Now come on, let's go."

With that, Lucy lead herself plus Lana and their respective pets out of the crawlspace. Once they were out, Fangs fluttered up and perched himself on top of Lucy's head while Lana placed Bitey inside the front pocket of her overalls.

"Now, don't go running off on me again, you hear me?" Lana scolded him, but took a more apologetic route next, "Though maybe I shouldn't have left you unattended in the first place."

After giving Bitey a couple pats on the head, Lana turned her attention over to Lucy and ran on up to give her sister a hug.

"Thanks, Lucy. You really helped me out big time...and Bitey, too." She said sincerely.

"It's my pleasure, Lana." Lucy responded proudly, embracing her younger sister back.

Both parted from the hug after a few moments and returned inside their home, where Lana would go to her room to put Bitey away and Lucy returning to her room as well, hoping to finally at long last have some time to herself. At the same time, Fangs flew off her head and perched himself on the headboard of Lucy's bed.

Laying down on her bed, Lucy popped open the book she's been meaning to read all day long and settled in, but not before she turned over and once more addressed her bust of Edwin.

"I have to say, Edwin, I've been worrying about nothing this whole time." She said with renewed confidence, "It really does feel good to be there for my younger sisters in their times of need. I could actually get used to doing this more often."

Exhaling with a smile, Lucy turned back to her book and found herself deep into the dark, yet wondrous tales within.

20 minutes in and not peep from any of Lucy's sisters could be heard.

However, the tranquility would be cut short when a sudden explosion emanating from the backyard rattled the house, followed by a cry out in pain.

"Gasp. What was that?" Lucy wondered in concern.

She tossed her book aside and hopped off her bed to look out the window overseeing the backyard. Green smoke was billowing upward, which somewhat obscured things, but the most frightening detail could be clearly seen: the sight of Lisa laid out on the ground.

"Lisa!" Lucy said, in a tone a slight above her usual monotone manner of speaking, underscoring her increasing worry.

With a sense of urgency, Lucy burst out of her room and rushed down the stairs, completely ignoring Lana and Lola along the way, both who also were concerned about the outdoor explosion and tried asking their older sister what happened when she zipped past them. Nevertheless, both of them followed her not too far behind.

Arriving at the backyard, Lucy witnessed the alarming scene before her. The shattered remains of whatever experiment Lisa had been working on were scattered about within a radius around the center of the yard. But such debris was moot compared to the condition of the four-year-old genius, who appeared unconscious from the resulting explosion. It wasn't that uncommon for Lisa's experiments to result in explosions and usually if she's caught in the blast, at least she was upright and breathing, if not also a little bit charred. But never had she been put out cold like she was now this go around.

"Lisa!" Lucy said out loud.

She came over to her sister's side and tried gently shaking her awake. Meanwhile, Lana and Lola had also arrived on the scene and were visibly shaken by what they saw.

"What's going on?" Lola asked worriedly.

"Is Lisa okay?" Lana added, also with much concern.

As the twins joined alongside Lucy, Lisa finally began to stir. She blinked her eyes a few times and very gently rose up into a sitting position, coughing a little bit, too. Her showing signs of consciousness resulted in the twins huddling around her much closer and peppering her with many concerns all at once.

"Hey, give her some space, guys." Lucy recommended to them.

Reluctantly, Lana and Lola back away from Lisa while Lucy remained close by. Lisa coughed a couple more time, then she shook her head in an attempt to regain her senses fully.

"Lisa, are you okay?" Lucy asked.

"A-A-Affirmative." Lisa hesitantly stated.

The second youngest Loud sibling blinked again, briefly wondering to herself as to why her vision was still blurry. Only after putting a hand over her face did she realize as to the reason for that.

"Hmm, it appears my spectacles are absent." She said.

Lisa tried patting the ground around her in an effort to find her glasses, but wasn't having much luck.

"Lisa, why don't you stay put and I'll find your glasses?" Lucy offered to do.

"Yeah, and I can help!" Lana said.

"Me too!" Lola added.

Lucy turned to the twins, "Okay, be but very careful."

With that decided on, the three of them spread out across the yard in search of their sister's glasses. Each of them took it slow and steady, watching every step taken as to not accidentally step on and break them.

A tense minute went by with little luck. However, seconds later, that would change.

"I think I found them!" Lana shouted.

The tomboyish twin approached the epicenter of Lisa's destroyed experiment to see her sister's glasses placed among some shattered glass. Amazingly, aside from some dirt and charring, the glasses were otherwise completely intact. Lana very carefully went to grab them, avoiding nicking herself on the broken shards. With a little sigh, she bounded over back to Lisa, with Lucy and Lola doing the same.

"Here ya go, Lis!" Lana said, handing them over.

Lisa reached out and accepted her glasses back from Lana. She took a few seconds to wipe the lenses down with her shirt and put them back on.

"Ah, there we go." Lisa commented, happy to return to 20/20 vision.

"Okay, with that settled, I'll ask again, Lisa." Lucy began saying as she was kneeling down, "Are you sure you're okay?"

"I can confirm that, my grimmest of siblings." Lisa answered, her standard level of confidence returning, "In fact, I-"

"Wait, what's that?!" Lola shouted fearfully, interrupting Lisa.

"What is it, Lola?" Lucy wondered.

The princess of the twins pointed shakily to the left side of Lisa's face. Lucy moved over to where Lola was to get a better view and when she did, it took her breath away.

"Gasp!" She verbalized in horror.

Just right above Lisa's cheek was a small gash that had started to bleed very slowly, perhaps as a result of getting hit from a piece of broken glass during the explosion as if it were shrapnel. The sight of this was nearly making Lola want to vomit, and Lana wasn't that much better when she got a look at the abrasion herself.

Before anything else could be said, everyone paused when the sound of Lily crying back inside could be heard, potentially as a delayed reaction from the explosion which may have startled her.

Between that and Lisa's injuries, Lucy found herself in a quandary. Earlier in the day, she had very little confidence with regards to being in charge of her younger sisters. But little by little with every instance of assisting them with each of their predicaments, she was getting more attune with her responsibilities and right now was her most serious test yet. She had to make a choice in this moment.

"Lana, Lola, go back inside and check up on Lily. I'm going to stick by with Lisa." Lucy said with an upsurge of determination.

Without saying anything, the twins nodded and rushed back into the house to tend to their youngest sister. Meanwhile, Lucy helped Lisa back to her feet and keep her balanced as she was still feeling sort of woozy.

"Is this necessary, Lucy?" Lisa questioned, "My equilibrium is sure to balance itself out without your assistance."

"That's the least of your problems right now, Lisa." Lucy responded, "We need to have you checked over."

Before Lisa could question things further, Lucy brought her along by the hand back inside their home and into the kitchen.

"Sit down, Lisa." Lucy told her, pulling a chair aside.

"Lucy, what is the meaning-"

"I said sit down." Lucy issued out again like a command.

Sighing resignedly, Lisa complied with her sister's unexpectedly stern instruction.

"Now wait right here." Lucy said.

After issuing that statement, she went upstairs to retrieve some bandages from the medicine cabinet inside the bathroom. At first, she grabbed a pair of standard size ones, but she saw a singular remaining large one that may work better. She returned to the kitchen and Lisa, but not before getting a paper towel as well.

As her older sister came back close to her, Lisa remained in reluctant silence while her wound was getting treated. First, Lucy wiped a small trickle of blood away with the towel, then she applied the bandage over the offending area. It wasn't much, but it was the best she could do with the extremely limited medical knowledge she had.

"There, that should help I hope. Maybe once Mom and Dad come home they can check it themselves and see if there's anything else that needs to be done." Lucy said.

"I doubt such a second opinion is needed." Lisa expressed dismissively while shaking her head, "Besides, whatever abrasion I supposedly garnered didn't really necessitate the level of overreaction you, Lana and Lola put forward. Frankly, it's ridiculous that someone of my intellectual quotient needs to be babied like this or-"

"Lisa!"

The little genius' rant was cut off when Lucy slammed her hand on the kitchen table and had an uncharacteristically aggravated tone when saying her sister's name. It was enough for Lisa to rear back just a little in her chair.

"Sigh. Sorry about that. But there's something I should tell you. Just hear me out, okay?" Lucy requested.

She pulled another chair around and put it right in front of where Lisa was sitting, then took a seat herself and looked right at her younger sister.

"Lisa, I'm your big sister. You know that, right?"

"Affirmative, though I fail to see why such a thoroughly obvious fact like that needs to be brought up." Lisa said, perplexed as to where Lucy was going with this.

"It's because up until today, I never really played that role towards you, and for the longest time, I thought I didn't have to since Mom, Dad, our oldest sisters and Lincoln were around. Now with me in charge at this moment, I wanted to prove I can be that for you."

Before going on, Lucy reached out and put one of her hands on top of Lisa's own.

"See, you have to understand that when Mom and Dad first put me in this position, I had no confidence at all doing this. I was so worried that things would get out of hand and in a way, I wasn't totally wrong. But as the day went on, I started getting better and better in feeling confident about this. You probably don't know, but so far today, I've changed Lily's diaper all by myself, helped Lola with some tangles in her hair and assisted Lana in finding Bitey when she lost him out in the front yard."

Lisa couldn't help but smile, "Hmm, impressive. Also, I must concede that I was unaware of your hesitation in accepting the burden of this temporary arrangement of keeping watch over us."

"Yeah, but like I said, I've gotten better over time." Lucy said while smiling herself.

For a moment, both sat in silence until Lucy chose to resume speaking, as there was something particularly important pertaining to Lisa she wanted to express.

"But back to what I was saying about being your big sister. You said moments ago that me, Lana and Lola overreacted over that cut in your face, but that was only part of it. Lisa, you were knocked out for like a minute after the explosion. Are you going to tell me or anyone else that an overreaction isn't needed? I don't know what kind of experiment you were working on, but I doubt it's worth risking such serious harm like that."

Instinctively, Lisa felt the urge to refute such a statement. She didn't normally take kindly to anyone doubting the significance of her research and experiments. Yet the manner that Lucy had been speaking in thus far was touching her in a way she rarely often felt. As if by coincidence, emotion was the next thing on Lucy's mind that she wanted to get out there.

"Lisa, I know that you like saying you don't recognize human emotion. Similarly, you know I like saying that I don't have a heart. But I'm telling you right now that I know neither of those things are true. I really care about you and I can sense that you are hurting on the inside as much on the outside. You feel like you've failed with whatever you were experimenting on, and deep down, you're also scared about your own well being, too. You don't need to hide it and I, nor anyone else, will ever think less of you for expressing any emotions over that."

Upon her finishing speaking, Lucy took both of Lisa's hands into her own and held them affectionately. For a little while again, nothing else was said and it appeared that Lisa was as usual not letting any emotions get to her. But the level of sincerity and heartfelt sentiment coating every word Lucy spoke to her was doing things in.

Feeling a stinging sensation in the corner of her eyes, Lisa pulled her hands away so she could take her glasses off and put them on the table. She closed her eyes in a last ditch effort to hold everything back, but that was for naught as quiet, little sobs started coming out her mouth.

As soon as she witnessed Lisa breaking down, Lucy hopped off from her chair, reached over and brought her sister into a close embrace, wherein Lisa positioned her face along Lucy's shoulder and cried into it.

"My apologies, Lucy..." Lisa muttered tearfully, "I-I..."

"Ssh...it's okay, Lisa." Lucy said in the most soothing voice she could muster.

She hugged her little sister a little more firmly and in turn, Lisa put her own arms around Lucy's waist.

As the two of them were holding each other, both in the moment reaching a closeness almost unknown to them, Lana came back onto the scene.

"Okay, I think Lily's doing better, but Lola is sticking with her for now, so..."

She paused when she witnessed Lucy and Lisa in their embrace and heard Lisa's soft cries.

"Hey, what's wrong with Lisa?" Lana asked.

"She'll be fine, Lana." Lucy answered, "Just give her a moment, okay? I'll handle everything."

Lana wanted to know more, but for now she trusted Lucy had things at hand, so she nodded and went about with her business, or at least was about to until Lucy called out to her.

"Actually, hold on, Lana." She said.

Lana looked back over to her older sister, "Huh? What is it?"

"Go get Lola and Lily and have them gather in the living room, would you?" Lucy requested.

"Um, sure, I can do that." Lana said.

She bounded back up the stairs to retrieve her twin sister and the baby, while Lucy returned her attention to Lisa, whose sobs had subsided significantly.

"Are you feeling any better, Lisa?" Lucy wondered, pulling away from her.

Lisa sniffled, wiped any remaining tears and put her glasses back on.

"I have to confess, elder sister. This was a release that was much needed." She said while smiling.

To show her appreciation, Lisa engaged in another brief hug with Lucy, which the latter was happy to return.

"So, may I inquire as to why you require our three other sister units coalesce at the living quarters?" Lisa asked once they parted.

"You'll see in a moment." Lucy responded.

With that, Lucy lead Lisa over to the living room, where Lana, Lola and Lily were already gathered around.

"So, how do guys feel about just sitting down and watching TV until everybody comes back home?" Lucy suggested.

"Well, not that I'd be complaining or anything, but why?" Lola wondered.

"I thought after everything that's gone on so far, I think we all deserve to relax while were together." Lucy explained, "So, how about it?"

"I'd like that!" Lana said happily.

"Okay, sure." Lola said more reserved, but still liking the overall idea.

"I'll concur to this as well." Lisa added.

"Ga-ga!" Lily babbled, throwing her hands in the air.

Smiling, Lucy sat down in the middle of the couch, then her younger sisters all followed suit and joined alongside her. Before Lucy knew it, she felt all four of them wrap her up in an affectionate group hug.

"You're a great big sister, Lucy." Lana said.

"Exemplary, even." Lisa added.

"You were such a big help to all of us!" Lola wrapped up cheerfully.

"Yay, Oocee!" Lily babbled.

A small blush came across Lucy's face. To think when this whole concept of her being in charge first started out that she would fail miserably. Nothing could have been further from the truth. Instead, she proved both to her younger sisters and more importantly to herself that she is very much capable of handling things.

After allowing herself to be within the group hug for a few moments, Lucy finally returned the favor by putting arms around them to the best of her ability.

"Thanks, you guys." She said in full esteem.

* * *

As the afternoon was drawing to a close, Vanzilla pulled up to the driveway and its eight occupants within having returned home from their respective outings.

"Whew, it was a little touch and go, but we all made back home in one piece!" Lynn Sr. declared.

"It's like I said before, we can always handle anything in the end." Rita said, patting her husband's shoulder.

"You're right, honey, we do." Lynn Sr. agreed, then he turned to the back, "All right, kiddos, everybody out!"

With that request from their father, the six oldest Loud kids stepped out from Vanzilla and went around to the back in order to gather up several of their things. Such would include three bags worth of products that Lori and Leni bought at the mall, Luna with her guitar and a couple of amplifiers with the assistance of Lynn, and Lincoln once more carried the box of props used for the birthday party while Luan had a handle on the leftover cake that they'd received.

As everyone stepped back inside the house, they were greeted by the sight of Lucy, Lana, Lola, Lisa and Lily closely snug together on the couch.

"Ah, welcome home, parental units and eldest siblings times six." Lisa addressed upon their arrival home.

"Well, isn't this an adorable sight to see?" Rita said smiling.

"Yep, just relaxing with the best big sister ever!" Lana happily stated.

"I take it this means things went well with Lucy at the helm?" Lynn Sr. inquired.

"And then some, Daddy!" Lola replied, beaming with joy, "Lucy was incredible today!"

Lucy started to blush again, "You guys..."

"Well, we got to take care of a few things ourselves, then we'd like to hear how the day went. Sound good?" Rita said.

"Yeah!" Lana and Lola shouted, answering on their own plus Lucy and Lisa's behalf.

Following that agreement, those who returned home dispersed in different directions. Lynn Sr. and Rita headed for their bedroom briefly, Luan went to put the leftover cake in the kitchen and everyone else went upstairs to put away all their respective things in their rooms.

"Uh, hey, did something happen in the backyard with one of your experiments, Lisa?" Luan asked as she returned to the living room.

Lisa sighed, "I can confirm that. A full debrief will occur once the family reassembles."

After another minute of handling their business and putting their things away, the rest of the family converged at the living room, with the elder siblings surrounding the couch, specifically Lori, Leni, Luna and Luan crowding around the back while Lynn and Lincoln were on the sides. Meanwhile, Lynn Sr. and Rita sat down squeezing in on opposite ends of it between their five youngest daughters.

"So, how'd things go, Lucy?" Lynn Sr. inquired, "Did you think-"

"Wait!" Rita shouted, interrupting her husband, "Why is there a bandage on your face, Lisa?"

"Such was put on as a result of an abrasion which Lucy believed required modest treatment." Lisa explained astutely.

"What's an 'a-_bra_-sion?'" Leni expressed confusedly.

"In other words, a cut or scratch." Lisa reiterated in more plain terminology.

"Can I see it if you don't mind?" Rita asked.

Lisa sighed, peeling the bandage halfway and turned her head so that most everyone can see the cut in question, causing concerned gasps all around.

"OM-gosh, are you okay, Lisa?" Leni wondered full of worry.

"Yeesh, that's quite a gash you got there, Lis." Lynn said, leaning in to get a better look, "But I've also seen worse, namely on myself. I can recall one time during a recent roller derby match where I got this wound that gushed such a good deal that-"

"Uh, now's literally not the time, Lynn, unless you want us to be sick to our stomachs." Lori admonished her athlete sister.

"Oh, heh, okay then." Lynn said, grinning in slight embarrassment.

"Lisa, how did this happen?" Rita asked, returning to the topic at hand.

"Guess that must have came from whatever happened in the backyard with that experiment of yours." Luan theorized.

Lynn Sr. turned his head curiously, "Huh, what do you mean, Luan?"

"When I was putting away the cake from the party, I looked out the window and it appeared Lisa must've had some sort of mishap to say the least. It looked pretty bad if I'm being honest." Luan answered.

Without saying another word, Lynn Sr. and Rita stood up and made a path for the backyard, their kids following along close by. Upon seeing the extent of the damage, a horrified gasp came from the parents and the six oldest siblings who were witnessing everything for the first time.

"What in the world…?" Lincoln expressed, baffled at what he saw.

"Jeez Louise, Lis, what the heck were you fixin' to mixin', brah?" Luna put it so uniquely like she would say.

"Frankly, all I can say is that one errant lapse in judgment lead to this most calamitous of incidents, followed by a momentary loss of consciousness of myself." Lisa explained.

"Wait, you were unconscious because of this, too?!" Lynn Sr. exasperatedly said, his jaw left agape.

Lisa sighed once more and nodded, "Yes, I must confess to that. But to repeat, it was only momentary and the assistance from Lucy, Lana and Lola helped in my eventual resuscitation."

The parents looked at one another in absolute shock. They knew their second youngest child played with risks any time she worked on her various projects and experiments, but this one went well and above to straight up dangerous, especially now knowing her choice of using the backyard as her work environment as opposed to her room.

"Kids, would you mind heading back inside for a moment? We need to have a serious talk with Lisa about this." Rita said.

Nodding solemnly, they followed their mother's request and began heading back into the house, though if Lisa had her way, one would not.

"Uh, Mother, Father, though I don't reject at all having this upcoming discussion, if you can grant me this request, I suggest Lucy should accompany us as well."

"Uh, why?" Lynn Sr. wondered.

"Please, I insist." Lisa simply stated.

Her parents again shared a look, followed by glancing over at the goth girl who the genius was imploring that she stick around.

"You okay with that, Luce?" Lynn Sr. asked her.

"Well, if Lisa really wants me to..." Lucy said somewhat hesitantly.

A pleading look from Lisa, perhaps unexpected in nature, was enough for the parents to give in.

"All right, Lucy can stay, but the rest of you kids, head back inside." Rita said following a prolonged sigh.

That deal having been settled, the kids minus Lucy went inside as Lynn Sr. and Rita sat down on the bottom most step on the stairway leading to the backyard, while Lucy and Lisa sat down on the grass facing their parents.

"Listen, Lisa, we get that science is the thing that drives you the most..." Lynn Sr. started out with.

"But having learned everything that transpired while we were gone, we have to say that this latest experiment of yours has to be a breaking point with us." Rita said with a mix of firmness and worry.

"'Breaking point?'" Lisa challenged, "Bit of an exaggeration of phrasing much, Mother?"

"Lisa, you confessed in your own words to losing consciousness due to this experiment blowing up on you." Rita retaliated sternly, "Frankly, my choices of words should be the least of your concerns."

Lisa exhaled and looked down at the ground, knowing that her mother was correct. She looked back up when she felt Lucy reach over and take a hold of her hand. It appeared that the resident goth of the family was starting to understand why Lisa wanted her to stick on by.

"Look, that might've sounded harsh from your mother, but she does have a point." Lynn Sr. said, trying to sound more sympathetic, "The thing is, Lisa, this isn't the first time you've gotten hurt when something's gone wrong with one of your experiments, and knowing this one caused you to both get a cut and knock you unconscious, I think something's gotta change."

"From now on, I'd say your father and I should have more say and oversight as to what exactly you're working on. We may not know as much about science as you do, honey, but what we do know is that your safety is paramount." Rita said, smiling at the end.

Lisa took in what she had heard and contemplated everything. She had to admit that is was a mystery as to why they never suggested this before now given her father noting prior explosive incidents. After a few more seconds of pondering, she gave her answer.

"Though I'll admit that such parental interference could hamper certain aspects of research…" Lisa opined crestfallen, yet understanding, "On reflection and in light of today's harrowing circumstance, I'll grant such scrutiny."

While giving out smiles, both Rita and Lynn Sr. got to their knees and hugged Lisa, while Lucy remained to the side watching on.

"Attagirl, Lisa." Lynn Sr. said warmly.

"And no matter what, we're glad that you're okay, because that's most important above all else." Rita added in relief.

Once they released their scientific daughter, the parents stood up and observed the mess that Lisa's experiment left behind.

"We've got quite the mess on our hands, don't we?" Lynn Sr. stated quite plainly.

"Yeah, but I think we know where we can get some assistance with this." Rita said with a sly grin.

They went back inside for a moment, leaving Lucy and Lisa alone for the duration.

"So, I'm guessing the reason you wanted me to stay was because you felt like you needed some moral support?" Lucy wondered.

"Precisely, my most macabre sister." Lisa answered, sighing heavily, "I have to profess that there was an iota of dread within me of how Mother and Father would take this scientific misfortune of mine. Luckily, seems like that dread wasn't entirely warranted."

Lisa inhaled and exhaled softly, then she gave a very sincere look to her sister.

"And if I may, Lucy, I haven't been courteous enough to extend a most gracious of thanks for all you've done for me today. Despite being imbued with vast knowledge, even I can slip up disastrously and become victim to temporary, yet serious physical impairment. As some who's still in her fourth yearly cycle, I should be more than welcoming of any reliance or assistance, whether moral, physical and/or comforting, from all my elder siblings forms, including you, Lucy. So with that, I thank you for your helpfulness."

To show there's more than fancy words to back up those feelings, Lisa moved closer to Lucy and initiated a hug, which the elder of the two gladly returned.

"You're welcome, Lisa." Lucy said cordially, "It's what a big sister is there for."

After staying in the hug for a little bit, they saw their parents return with the rest of their siblings following behind, all of which were grumbling and complaining while carrying various cleaning supplies and implements with them.

"I take it our parental units have dragooned you into assisting with the cleanup of my calamitous disaster zone of science?" Lisa asked as they passed on by.

"Yeah, you could say that..." Lola muttered.

"Come on, Lols, it'll be fun!" Lana said more enthusiastically.

Lisa chortled mildly and stood up, "Well, I suppose I must lend a hand, too. Hopefully I can recover anything that hasn't resulted in a total loss."

Feeling compelled to help out as well, Lucy began standing up, too, but noticed that her six older siblings were approaching her.

"Hey, Lucy, do you mind if we talk to you for a moment?" Luan asked.

"Um, okay. What about?" Lucy asked back.

"We just wanted to tell you how incredibly proud we are of what you did today." Lori said, placing her hand on Lucy's shoulder, "What you've done for Lisa was particularly inspiring."

"Yeah, not to mention how you helped Lana and Lola with their needs, too, since they told us just a minute ago." Lynn added, "Nice going, Luce."

"Oocee! Oocee!"

Lucy looked to see the origin of that babbling of her name coming from Lily, who was in the arms of Leni.

"Aw, I think even Lily knows what a good job you did!" Leni said sweetly.

"Well that, and maybe because she knows that I changed her diaper all by myself earlier in the day." Lucy mentioned.

"You did?" Leni questioned with a little gasp, "Wow! You're so responsible, Lucy!"

"Seems like you had a tight grip on things, didn't ya?" Luna said, mussing Lucy's hair, "If today showed anything, I'd say the abode and the littlest of our sisters are in good hands once the six of us have split off on our own."

"But that won't be for a good few years to come." Lincoln added, "Until then, we're all here for you in case you ever need any help or advice on that kind of stuff."

Soon after Lincoln had finished speaking, he and the older sisters all gave Lucy a group hug, which she tried her best in giving back as well.

"Thanks, you guys. That means a lot to me." Lucy said appreciatively, "Also, should you all plus Mom and Dad ever need someone to keep a handle on things, you can count on me, because I'm more than ready to do so again."

Her six oldest siblings gave Lucy proud smiles as they parted away from the hug. Afterwards, they joined in with the rest of the family in cleaning up the debris left by Lisa's experiment.

All in all, Lucy came away from this experience with arguably the biggest confidence boost she'd ever have at this point in her life. Like she just told her older siblings, she was ready to take charge of any other instance to look after her younger sisters again. But also on a more personal level, she also felt like she forged a stronger bond with Lisa in particular, and she appeared to sense that her younger sister was very appreciative of Lucy's efforts in helping her recover from the explosion earlier and was more willing in opening up her feelings better, too.

As cleanup efforts were well underway, Lucy took a moment to approach Lisa, putting a hand on her shoulder. Lisa turned to her older sister upon feeling such contact as they exchanged smiles with each other.

"Much appreciation for you, elder sister." Lisa said warmly.

"You too, Lisa." Lucy replied in kind, "You too."

* * *

**Ah, there we go, the first original Loud House story of mine completed. Such a good feeling for that, you know?**

**As a postscript, this story went a long way in actually improving my overall opinion of Lisa by a good deal. While I don't dislike any of the siblings, like a lot of others, Lisa was near the bottom of my personal rankings at one point. Now, she's my second favorite of the younger sisters just behind Lucy. The interactions between them in this story was the biggest reason for that and I'll tell you right now, this won't be the last time I focus on these two. While I have my affinities for a number of the popular ones, I do also have a thing for certain overlooked and underutilized sibling pairs, too.**

**Also, just as a fun little factoid, not including the author's notes that were added, this story is exactly 8,888 words long. Talk about a neat little coincidence!**

**All right, any feedback and reviews are good and as usual, I shall see you again very soon!**


End file.
